Due to the increased cost in processing fees (From $65.00 to $75.00), the hunter fee will increase from $10.00 to $20.00 as of the 2018 / 2019 season for deer weighing 50 lbs or more (dressed weight), and will increase from $30.00 to $40.00 for deer weighing less than 50 lbs.

During the early season (from Sept. 8 til Sept. 28), the hunter's fee will be waived, except for small deer (dressed weight under 50 lbs), where the hunter's fee will remain at $40.00.

The hunter's fee will also be waived from the day following the six-day firearm season until the end of Winter bow season (from Dec. 9, 2018 - Feb. 16, 2019), except for small deer (dressed weight under 50 lbs.), where the hunter's fee will remain at $40.00.

Venison has become a very valuable item at the food banks. Donations will still be accepted if hunters wish to help with the cost of processing, but will not be mandatory.

New Jersey has lots of hungry people and it also has lots of white-tailed deer — especially in Hunterdon County. That’s the equation that has added up to a million meals provided by Hunters Helping the Hungry since the group was founded in 1997 by two Clinton Township men. A meal is figured at a quarter-pound of venison.

HHH consists of six trustees — founders Lester Giese and Joe Schultz; Mark Charbonneau and John Person, also of Clinton Township; and Pola Galie and Bud Thomas, both of South Jersey.

The trustees spread the word to hunters on how they can donate their kills to the needy, raise money to pay game butchers, and make arrangements with NORWESCAP and Catholic Charities for distribution of the frozen meat all over the state.

Charbonneau says the 2010-11 season “was our finest hour.” Hunters donated 754 deer, which dressed out to 29,138 pounds of venison — “high protein, low-fat meat from a renewable resource.” He says that the word back from the food banks around the state is that “they can’t keep it on the shelves.”

Person, who is one of eight butchers who process the meat at a discounted price ($65 per deer instead of the usual $94), praised the hunters who donate. “They make a commitment,” he said.

Charbonneau explains, “The second you pull the trigger, the work starts.” That involves gutting the deer, carrying the carcass out of the woods, bringing it to a checking station and then to a participating butcher, plus paying $10 toward the processing. “It’s a beautiful thing,” he says.

“Last week I was target practicing with my bow getting ready for the upcoming season,” says Charbonneau. “My 5-year-old daughter, Leyla, stood by my side. … She said to me, ‘You’re practicing so you can help feed people, right Daddy?’ I asked if she’s going to help when she gets older, and she replied, ‘Oh yeah!’”

Not surprisingly, animal-rights activists claim the program’s real purpose is to put a charitable face on a cruel sport.

Charbonneau would tell them they’re thinking too hard. It’s about feeding the hungry.

Schultz says he’d tell them: “We’ve donated one million meals; what have you done to help the community?”

Charbonneau says, “I’m drawn to (anti-hunting) letters to the editor. Outcry from the uneducated public gives me the energy to go even further. It makes us go out and find more support — from national retailers, local hunting and fishing shops — and to organize fundraising events.”

Enough such letters might energize him to start a service that would match property owners with hunters. Person says he’s found that feeding the hungry can be a deal-maker that convinces landowners to allow philanthropic hunters access to their acreage. Charbonneau thinks a service like that could take HHH “to the next level.”

Meanwhile HHH is busy matching venison with hunger.

A TV segment on the nonprofit was shot recently for the “Friends of the NRA” show, which will be aired on the Outdoor Channel in January. Charbonneau says after a visit to Person’s butcher shop, “we went to Catholic Charities in Phillipsburg where a particular family stood by.” The couple had four kids, the wife had lost her job and the husband’s work hours had been cut and they were grateful for the food. He had never seen this end of the HHH process and “at that time my voice cracked,” he says.

With his emotions well in hand, Charbonneau says, “We’re just the medium to put food in a family’s mouths; you can’t dispute that agenda.”

The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife would like to inform the public of an effort by the Phillipsburg High School FFA Chapter to receive a grant which will benefit the state Hunters Helping the Hungry (HHH) program. The goal of the chapter is to use the grant money to improve their butchering facilities for HHH and to begin raising and processing livestock to give to the local food bank.
FFA Chapter President Brittney Smith nominated the school’s Agriculture Program for a $50,000 or $20,000 grant from the Clorox Grants for Schools program. Online voting by the public will determine the winner of the grant.
Earlier this week the grant proposal was in 5th place overall out of 1482 schools. However, the proposal was in FIRST PLACE in the “LEARN” category. A win would mean $20,000 for the FFA program.
Voting is conducted daily now through November 1st. Those interested can vote (once each day is allowed) by following the directions below:
Go to:http://www.powerabrightfuture.com/Login: On the top right of the home screen, enter your email address.
Information: When you first register, you need to enter your name and birth date (Must be 18 or older for your vote to count!) This only needs to be completed once.
Visit the Nominee Gallery: Click on this tab on the right side of the screen after logging in.
Search: In the search box type in ‘Phillipsburg FFA Chapter’.
Vote: After completing the search, the Phillipsburg Chapter will appear. Click on the
photo and click VOTE.
Remember: You can Vote Once a Day from October 5th Until November 1st!

Published: Monday, July 26, 2010, 5:05 PM Updated: Monday, July 26, 2010, 5:08 PM
Hunterdon County Democrat Hunterdon County Democrat
Hunters Helping the Hungry has received a $2,500 grant from the NRA Foundation to assist with the cost of butchering donated venison that will be given to New Jersey food banks.
According to Les Giese of Clinton Township, co-founder of Hunters Helping the Hungry, “This grant allows us to continue providing thousands of pounds of high protein venison to New Jersey’s hungry families.” Since the Hunters Helping the Hungry program began, it has donated over 234,000 pounds of venison, providing approximately 936,000 servings to feed hungry people in the community.

By Lauren Moore
Editorial Assistant
Despite what Bambi might have you believe, hunters are not the enemy.
Local hunters are utilizing their sport to give back to the less fortunate through Hunters Helping the Hungry, an organization that provides venison, or deer meat, to a local food bank to be distributed to low-income families in the area.
Hunters Helping the Hungry was founded in 1997 by Les Giese, Mike Aversa and Joe Schultz with two goals in mind: combating the overpopulation of deer in the area while providing the less fortunate with a healthy source of nutrients.
Schultz, a member of Immaculate Conception Parish, Annandale, said he recognized a need while helping less fortunate families through church groups.
“I could see that needy families could utilize the protein [in venison]. We have the available resources, so why not utilize them and help the community?” he said.
So far, Schultz donated two deer this season. He has been hunting for more than 40 years, and has been “from Saskatchewan to Africa, and everywhere in between.” When hunting abroad, Schultz donates all of the meat he hunts to the locals in need.

By Warren Reporter
November 08, 2009, 5:34PM
“It’s hunting season which is our chance to feed many hungry people in New Jersey but we can’t do it without the public’s help,” says Les Giese, co-founder and Board Trustee of the group Hunters Helping the Hungry.
The Hunters Helping the Hungry Program was developed by Giese, of Clinton Township (Hunterdon), and other hunters during the 1997-1998 hunting season to help provide needed protein for local food banks while addressing the overpopulation of deer in our community.
Ten deer (approximately 500 pounds of venison) were donated that first season. Close to 6,000 pounds have been donated in 2009 and in 2008 the total was 12,000 pounds. Since the program’s inception, hunters have donated over 219,000 pounds of venison to HHH providing approximately 876,000 servings of protein to those in need. “But we can’t pay the butchers to process the deer without donations from the public,” says Giese.

Les Giese
Reader SubmittedLebanon—“It’s hunting season which is our chance to feed many hungry people in New Jersey but we can’t do it without the public’s help,” says Les Giese, co-founder and Board Trustee of the group.The Hunters Helping the Hungry Program was developed by Les Giese and other hunters during the 1997-1998 hunting season to help provide needed protein for local food banks while addressing the overpopulation of deer in our community. Ten deer (approximately 500 pounds of venison) were donated that first season. Close to 6,000 pounds have been donated in 2009 and in 2008 the total was 12,000 pounds. Since the program’s inception, hunters have donated over 219,000 pounds of venison to HHH providing approximately 876,000 servings of protein to those in need. “But we can’t pay the butchers to process the deer without donations from the public,” says Giese.